Means for deflecting headlight rays



Jan. 8, 1935. w J KERR 1,987,112

MEANS FOR DEFLECTING HEADLIGHT RAYS Filed Nov. 4, 1931 (fa/1112(2) J7 jig-r1 Patented Jan. 8, 1935 MEANS FOR .DEFLECTING HEADLIGHT t RAYS William Kerr, Chicago, Application November 4, 1931, Serial N 572,920

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in means for deflecting the rays from the filament of a headlight bulb of an automobile lamp or the like so that said rays may properly illuminate the road and surrounding vicinity but will not produce an objectionable glare in the eyes of oncoming motorists, nor illuminate the dust or fog in the atmosphere in the line of vision of the operator of the vehicle upon which the lamp is mounted. l

The utility, object and advantages of my invention will be apparent from'the accompanying drawing and following detail description.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view of an automobile headlight having a light bulb upon which is mounted a deflecting shell.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the headlight bulb and deflecting shell showing the shell removed from the bulb.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the deflecting shell.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the deflecting shell.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 1 indicates an automobile headlight having the usual parabolic reflector 2 which may be silvered and polished to a'very high finish. A lens 3 may be mounted upon the mouth of the reflector 2 and may be retained in position thereon by means of the flanged frame 4 which may circumscribe the lens 3. A socket 5 having the usual bayonet slot 6 may be mounted at the apex of the reflector 2. A plug '7 comprising one terminal of the conductor 8 may be removably positioned in the rear end of the socket 5. The base 9 of a headlight bulb 10 may be positioned within the socket 5 and may be retained therein by means of pins 11 mounted upon the sides of the base 9, said pins being adapted to be positioned within the bayonet slot 6.

The socket 5 may be so positioned with respect to the reflector 2 that the filament 12 of the bulb 10, when said bulb is positioned within the socket, is disposed at substantially the focal point of the parabolic reflector 2. It is to be understood, of course, that my invention is not to belimited to use particularly with an automobile headlight or that the type of reflector must be parabolic inasmuch as the principles of my invention are applicable to all types of headlights wherever used, whether of the usual parabolic type or otherwise.

By the use of my invention those rays from the filament of the electric bulb which are reflected by the reflector of the lamp upwardly into the eyes of the oncoming motorist which rays are also the same that illuminate the dust and fog particles in the air and tend to obscure the vision of the driver of the automobile upon which the lamp is mounted, are deflected from the filament to the upper portion of the reflector from whence they are reflected downwardly upon the road. In utilizing my invention an opaque substantially 5 hemispherical shell .13 may be positioned upon the lower front portion of the bulb 10. The shell 13 may be constructed of material such as aluminum, steel or the like, and may be provided with a relatively highly polished interior surface. 10 However, if desired, the shell 13 may be constructed of mica or a like transparent substance which may be colored as desired. A strip 14 may be cut away from the. body portion of the shell 13 adjacent one edge of'the shell and said strip may be corrugated as shown best at 15. The usual headlight bulb is provided with a plurality of concentric Wrinkles or ripples 16 formed upon the front face oi the glass casing which encloses the filament. Consequently, by the provision of the corrugated strip 14 of the shell 13 may be mounted upon the bulb 10 and the strip 14 may engage the glass portion of the bulblO between two adjacent ripples 16. By the provision of the corrugations 15, a strip 14 will be rendered resilient and consequently the shell 13 will be firmly maintained in position and will resist all shocks or jars to which the bulb 10 may be'subjected.

By positioning the shell 13 upon the lower front portion of the bulb 10, those rays from the filament 12 which usually impinge upon the lower half portion of the reflector 2 would be prevented from doing so and will be reflected from the inner surface of the shell 13 to the upper half portion of the reflector 2 from whence they will be deflected downwardly upon the road ahead. By this means those rays which normally impinge upon the lower surface and are reflected upwardly will be utilized to illuminate the road rather than to temporarily blind an oncoming motorist or annoy the driver of the car upon which the headlight is mounted.

If a transparent or semi-transparent material comprises the shell 13, the light rays from the filament 12 which usually pass downwardly to the lower half portion of the reflector will be sufiiciently colored or difiused so that the effect of their upward projection from the lower'half portion of the reflector 2 upon an oncoming motorist will be negligible. I

It can readily be seen, that in addition to .so deflecting the reflected rays so that they will not become annoying to an oncoming motorist, direct rays from the filament will also be prevented from interfering with the clear vision of the driver of the oncoming vehicle.

It is apparent that, my device may be economically constructed; is easily mountable and removable from light bulbs now in use, and will not necessitate the alteration or replacement of the headlight or headlight bulb itself.

It is to be understood, of course, that my device may be utilized with bulbs. having plain or smooth surfaces andv not beingprovided with the ripples orvwrinkles l6, inasmuch as the resilient cutaway 'member 14 is capable of suitably engaging {the surface of a plain or smooth bulb..

I claim as my invention: 1

1. In combination, a light deflector for a headlight bulb having a rippled glass casing, which comprises a shell having a curved surface substantially conforming to the curvature of the glass casing, and resilient corrugated strip means,

strip formed at a portion of the mouth of said shell whereby the mouth of the shell is resiliently expansible to frictionally-grip the surface of the bulb.

light bulb comprising, a substantially hemispherical shell and a resilient cut away integral strip formed at a portion of the mouth of said shell,

the longitudinal edges of said strip being parallel \to the edge of the mouth of the shell whereby the mouth of the shell is resiliently expansibleto Cfrictionally engage the surface of the bulb.

WILLIAM J. KERR.

3. In combination, a light deflector fora head 

